Phantom Productions' goal is to help preserve the history of the development of the reel to reel tape recorder and recognize those persons who provided the innovations along the way. In spite of its relatively short history (1930's to the 1980's), the reel tape recorder enabled folks for the first time to capture sound with ever increasing levels of quality. Whether it be the musician preparing for the studio, broadcasters documenting a major event, or just capturing granddad interacting with the kids, reel tape recorders preserved the moments.

This 7 hour video provides an overview of the development of sound recording from its earliest days through cylinder recording, vinyl records, optical recording, wire recording and magnetic recording. We provide a segment on how the tape recorder works. We then profile the 150 reel to reel tape recorders in our collection by providing the histories of 40 + companies who built these recorders from the 1940's to the 1980's. Company histories include Ampex (we have Capitol Records Ampex 200A recorder in our collection); Akai, Crown International, Dokorder, Magnecord (with photos from the 1950's factory), Sony (with clips of their factory and evolution), Studer (detail about Willie Studer rebuilding 500 American recorders and decision to build a better recorder while founding Studer / ReVox)

, Teac/Tascam (including the Teac 80-8 recorder with a live recording of Willie Nelson - this was also the recorder that was used to create the Stars Wars R2D2 and 3CPO sound effects) and many more.A trailer of the DVD set may be viewed at /DVDR2RTexas.html. 7 hours on 3 DVDs.

Phantom Productions' goal is to help preserve the history of the development of the reel to reel tape recorder and recognize those persons who provided the innovations along the way.

In spite of its relatively short history (1930's to the 1980's), the reel tape recorder enabled folks for the first time to capture sound with ever increasing levels of quality. Whether it be the musician preparing for the studio, broadcasters documenting a major event, or just capturing granddad interacting with the kids, reel tape recorders preserved the moments.

Additional updates include numerous additions to the History of Sound Recording, new recorders (including Willie Studer's Dynavox T-26), microphones (including the RCA 77-DX & Sony C37P) and accessories that have been added to the collection.

Phantom Productions, Inc. vintage recording collection began in 1998 with a 1904 Edison cylinder player. It has since grown to the many recorders noted on our web site. These DVDs provide a tour of our vintage recording collection. There are approximately 150 reel to reel tape recorders and other unique items related to recording. This is a 3 DVD 7 hour set that also includes a segment on how the tape recorder works and a segment about our on-location recording work around the State of Texas.

Most of the DVD is dedicated to the profile of the reel tape recorders that came available in the US in the late 1940's through the 1980's. We also include a profile of our wire recorders, a spring motor tape recorder and several other unique and unusual recording devices. The DVDs also profiles the numerous microphones (100+) in the Phantom collection. A trailer of the DVD may be viewed at /DVDR2RTexas.html.